Diversity Monitoring for Communication Network Circuits

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for monitoring circuit diversity within a communications network. Information is gathered regarding circuits within the communications network. Diversity rules for the circuits are received. The diversity rules may limit the sharing of network resource between primary and secondary circuit pairs. The information regarding the circuits is analyzed to identify violations of the diversity rules. A report on the violations of the diversity rules is generated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/562,462, Sep. 18, 2009, entitled “Diversity Monitoring ForCommunication Network Circuits,” which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This application related generally to the field of communicationnetworks. More specifically, the disclosure provided herein relates tomonitoring circuit diversity within a communications network.

Communication networks may be used to support voice, data, video, orother traffic for various applications. Critical applications may imposelevel of service requirements on providers of the networks or circuitswithin the networks. Circuits within networks may interconnect two nodesof the network. Circuits may be made up of one or more links thatprovide hops from node to node between the start node and end node ofthe circuit.

Level of service requirements may expect diversity for circuits, links,or resources associated with the circuits. For example, a level ofservice for a critical circuit may expect there to be a backup circuit.As an example of diversity, the backup circuit can be physicallyseparated from the primary circuit. With such diversity, failure of theprimary circuit is less likely to imply failure of the backup as well.If both the primary circuit and the backup circuit use fibers or cableswithin the same conduit, cutting of the conduit may shut down bothcircuits.

Traditional communication networks may merely hope that a networkarchitecture provides a backup path through the network should theprimary path suffer a failure. Even where critical circuits may beidentified to ensure backups, traditional techniques can require manualexamination of the circuit routes to evaluate diversity for the criticalcircuits. Such manual examination does not scale with network complexityor changing service requirements. Manual examination of network routedetails is tedious and time consuming and increases a potential forhuman error.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the disclosure presented herein include methods, systems,and computer-readable media for monitoring circuit diversity within acommunications network. According to one aspect, a method for monitoringa communications network is provided. According to the method,information regarding circuits within the communications network isgathered. Diversity rules for the circuits are received. The informationregarding the circuits is analyzed to identify violations of thediversity rules. A report on the violations of the diversity rules isgenerated.

According to another aspect, a system for monitoring a communicationsnetwork is provided. The system includes a memory and a processorfunctionally coupled to the memory. The memory stores a programcontaining code for monitoring a communications network. The processoris responsive to computer-executable instructions contained in theprogram and configured to gather information regarding circuits withinthe communications network. Diversity rules for the circuits arereceived by the processor. The information regarding the circuits isanalyzed by the processor to identify violations of the diversity rules.A report on the violations of the diversity rules is generated.

According to yet another aspect, a computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform amethod for monitoring a communications network is provided. According tothe method, information regarding circuits within the communicationsnetwork is gathered. Diversity rules for the circuits are received. Theinformation regarding the circuits is analyzed to identify violations ofthe diversity rules. A report on the violations of the diversity rulesis generated.

Other systems, methods, and/or computer program products according toembodiments will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art uponreview of the following drawings and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional systems, methods, and/or computerprogram products be included within this description, be within thescope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanyingclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a communication networkarchitecture with a diversity analysis subsystem, in accordance with oneor more embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a diversity analysis subsystem,in accordance with one or more embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for monitoringdiversity among communication network circuits, in accordance with oneor more embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system configured togenerate and implement network diversity analysis, in accordance withone or more embodiments presented herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is directed to methods, systems, andcomputer-readable media for monitoring diversity in communicationnetwork circuits. While the subject matter described herein is presentedin the general context of program modules that execute in conjunctionwith the execution of an operating system and application programs on acomputer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that otherimplementations may be performed in combination with other types ofprogram modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,components, data structures, and other types of structures that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the subject matterdescribed herein may be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.

In the following detailed description, references are made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and which are shown byway of illustration, specific embodiments, or examples. Referring now tothe drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements through theseveral figures, systems and methodologies for monitoring diversity incommunication network circuits are provided. In particular, FIG. 1illustrates a communication network architecture 100 with a diversityanalysis subsystem 200 according to some embodiments. A communicationsnetwork can include circuits such as illustrated circuits 120A-120F. Thecircuits 120A-120F may be referred to collectively or generically ascircuits 120. According to various embodiments, the circuits 120 may beoptical fibers, wavelengths within optical fibers, wired connections,wireless connections, radio frequency (RF) links, free-space opticallinks, or any time-slotted, packetized, or otherwise partitionedsubdivision thereof. The circuits 120 may connect between or passthrough facilities 110A-110D. The facilities 110A-110D may be referredto collectively or generically as facilities 110.

According to various embodiments, the facilities 110 may each bebuildings or locations such as a central office (CO), a point ofpresence (POP), a switching station, a customer site, or any othergeographical location of a network node or endpoint. According to otherembodiments, the facilities 110 may each be buildings, floors, or wiringclosets within a campus, a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or any other scale ofnetwork. According to still other embodiments, the facilities 110 mayeach be communication equipment devices, equipment racks, equipmentcabinets, or other locations within a network installation. It should beappreciated that the facilities 110 may be buildings or geographicallocations according to the scale of some embodiments, while thefacilities 110 may be switches or equipment racks according to the scaleof other embodiments. Furthermore, various other scales of the networkfacilities 110 may relate to various embodiments of the technologypresented herein without departing from the spirit or scope of thedisclosure.

The circuit 120A can connect between the facility 110D and facility 110Cwhile passing through the facility 110A and facility 110B. The circuit120B can connect between the facility 110D and facility 110B whilepassing through the facility 110A. The circuit 120C can connect betweenthe facility 110A and facility 110C while passing through the facility110B. Circuit 120D can connect directly between the facility 110B andfacility 110C. The circuit 120E can connect directly between thefacility 110D and facility 110B. Lastly, circuit 120F can connectdirectly between the facility 110D and facility 110C. When one of thecircuits 120 terminates at one of the facilities 110, the facility ornode may be referred to as an ingress or egress node for the circuit.Similarly, the circuit 120 may be said to add or drop at the facility110.

When one of the circuits 120 passes through one of the facilities 110, aphysical resource associated with the circuit, such as an optical fiberor cable, may pass through the facility without being terminated.Alternatively, the circuit 120 passing through the facility 110 may beterminated and regenerated, patched, or otherwise processed within thefacility. The circuit 120 terminating as it passes through the facility110, or connecting to another one of the circuits 120 within thefacility 110, may be said to hop at that facility 110 on to anotherfacility 110. As such, the circuit 120 may be made up of two or moreother circuits 120 or links. The links may provide hops between one ormore intermediate nodes, or the facilities 110 making up the totalcircuit 120. For example, the circuit 120 may be established from thefacility 110D to facility 110B using the circuit 120F from the facility110D to facility 110C and then hopping from the facility 110C tofacility 110B using the circuit 120D. Communications from the facility110D to facility 110B may also be established using the circuit 120B orusing the circuit 120E. The combination of the circuit 120A and circuit120D may also be used to establish communications from the facility 110Dto facility 110B.

According to exemplary embodiments, there are at least four circuits, orcombined circuits, for connecting between the facility 110D and facility110B. Any two of these may be selected as a primary and backup pair.Such a pairing may be established with the hope that the backup circuitmay remain operational even in the case of a failure in the primarycircuit. This may be important when communications between the facility110D and facility 110B are mission critical. Mission critical circuitsmay be provided by a communication carrier along with a guaranteed orimplied level of service to support a reduced failure probability.Increasing the diversity between the primary circuit and the backupcircuit can decrease the probability that a failure in the primarycircuit implies a failure in the secondary circuit. Thus increaseddiversity can support increased reliability.

Two circuits may form a primary/secondary pair for communicationsbetween the facility 110D and facility 110B. As a first example, theprimary circuit may include the circuit 120B while the secondary circuitmay include the combination of the circuit 120A and circuit 120D. Inthis first example configuration, both the primary and secondarycircuits pass through the facility 110A. A power failure, cable cut,fire, or other failure at the facility 110A may result in a loss of boththe primary circuit and the secondary circuit. In a second example, theprimary circuit may include the circuit 120B while the secondary circuitmay include the combination of the circuit 120F and circuit 120D. In thesecond example configuration, the secondary circuit does not passthrough facility 110A. Thus, a failure at facility 110A may result in aloss of the primary circuit, but the secondary circuit may remainoperational as a backup. The pairing in the second example may be saidto have a higher diversity, or to be more diverse, than the pairing ofthe first example, since the pairing of the second example is ofcircuits not sharing links or intermediate node facilities.

Details concerning the architecture and configuration of thecommunications network can be stored to a link data warehouse 180.Information from the link data warehouse 180 may then be provided to thediversity analysis subsystem 200 as discussed in further detail withrespect to FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram illustrates the diversityanalysis subsystem 200 in accordance with one or more embodimentspresented herein. Link data 220, such as details concerning thearchitecture and configuration of a communications network, may beprovided to a diversity analysis module 210. The diversity analysismodule 210 may be a computer based method implemented as software withina computing system as discussed with respect to FIG. 4. The diversityanalysis module 210 may also be implemented as an automated system ofsoftware modules, firmware modules, hardware modules, or any combinationthereof according to various embodiments.

The link data 220 may be received from a database such as the link datawarehouse 180. The link data 220 may specify assorted configurationinformation related to the links and circuits 120 of the communicationsnetwork. The configuration information may include a specification ofcritical circuits to be verified for adequate diversity. Thespecification of the critical circuits may be static, or the specifiedcircuits may vary over time. The configuration information may alsoinclude the endpoints of a circuit as well as hops or intermediate nodesof the circuit. Various additional information may be provided withinthe link data 220 such as bandwidth, circuit type, customeridentification, service level specifications, primary or secondarystatus, and so forth. The link data 220 may be derived from a TrunkIntegrated Record Keeping System (TIRKS).

Diversity rules 240 may be specified to the diversity analysis module210. The diversity rules 240 may specify what resources may, or may not,be shared between a primary and secondary circuit in order for theconditions of diversity to be satisfied. For example, a rule may specifythat a primary/secondary pair may not pass through a common building orlocation. Another rule may specify that the primary/secondary pair maypass through a common building as long as they are both not added ordropped within the building. Other physical resources may be specifiedwithin the diversity rules 240 as sharable or not, such as racks, powersupplies, switches, conduits, cables, fibers, wavelengths, time slots,frequencies, vaults, cabinets, antennas, lasers, receivers,transmitters, passive optical elements, radio frequency components,interface cards, interface modules, demarcation points, customer sites,trunks, any other communications resource, or any combination thereof.

The diversity analysis module 210 can apply the diversity rules 240 tothe link data 220 to determine which, if any, of the specified circuitssatisfy the provided diversity rules 240 and which do not. A diversityreport 260 may be generated by the diversity analysis module 210 toindicate the diversity status of the specified circuits to a user,operator, or to another automated system. A diversity report may includestatistics of diversity, a history of circuit diversity, visualizationssuch as charts and tables, as well as various other indicators of thediversity status of the communications network and the associatedcircuits 120.

Exclusions 250 may be specified to the diversity analysis module 210.The exclusions 250 can indicate known apparent violations of thediversity rules 240 that may be ignored. For example, one of theexclusions 250 may be an improperly identified diversity fault that onlyshows as a fault because of a measuring or reporting mechanism. Theexclusions 250 may specify known conditions to be marked within thediversity report 260 as exclusions when they are matched from a list ofthe exclusions 250. As such, a user or system examining the diversityreport 260 may know to disregard the diversity fault that is noted asone of the exclusions 250. Any statistics, analysis, or illustrationsprovided in association with the diversity report 260 may be configuredto exclude circuits violations marked as one of the exclusions 250. Inorder to prevent one of the exclusions 250 from getting permanentlyignored within the diversity analysis subsystem 200, a list of theexclusions 250 may have expiration dates and times for each entry, aglobal expiration period may be imposed, or some other expiration orretirement protocol may be enacted for exclusion 250 entries.

Work orders 230 may be specified to the diversity analysis module 210.The work orders 230 may contain a list of future, or proposed,modifications to the communication network. The diversity analysismodule 210 can analyze the proposed modifications from the work orders230 and indicate within the diversity report 260 when a proposed networkmodification may threaten the diversity of the communications network.

The circuits 120 may provide communication links between locationsregulated by the Federal Aviations Administration (FAA) such as airtraffic control facilities, or other such mission critical communicationinstallations. As such, the diversity rules 240 may be defined by theuser or administrator of the critical circuits 120, such as the FAA inthe air traffic control example.

The diversity report 260 may list all the circuits 120 along with theassociated sites and their link hops. The diversity report 260 may listall TIRKS inventoried equipment and facilities associated with eachrespective circuit 120. The diversity report 260 can support a globalsearch by equipment where different criteria can allow broader ornarrower search criteria depending upon the need of the search. Eachcircuit 120 within the diversity report 260 may also be listed withspecific equipment and facilities associated with that circuit 120. Thisinformation may be leveraged when there is a facility or equipmentoutage implying an urgent situation for finding critical servicedepending upon the equipment or facility. The information may also beleveraged for planning purposes to identify critical services onequipment or facilities prior to rearranging or retiring the associatednetwork resources.

The diversity report 260 may also provide a performance report showingthe percentage of diverse sites. The percentage of diverse sites may besorted by state, region, customer, or other criteria. The performancereport may also be divided by area to support visibility into detailsdown to the circuit level.

Application of the diversity analysis module 210 can support anautomated solution requiring reduced human intervention to identifypotentially serious diversity violations within a communicationsnetwork. This approach can save time, reduce errors, and may beadaptable to various network scenarios and architectures.

Referring now to FIG. 3, additional details will be provided regardingsome embodiments described herein for generating and implementingdiversity monitoring within the communication circuits 120. Inparticular, FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method300 for monitoring diversity among the communication network circuits120, in accordance with one or more embodiments presented herein. Itshould be appreciated that the logical operations described herein areimplemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or programmodules running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnectedmachine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system.The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performanceand other requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logicaloperations described herein are referred to variously as statesoperations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These operations,structural devices, acts, and modules may be implemented in software, infirmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof.It should be appreciated that more or fewer operations may be performedthan shown in the figures and described herein. These operations mayalso be performed in a different order than those described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the method 300 begins at operation 310, wherecircuit information associated with a communications network iscollected into a database. The circuit information may include the linkdata 220 as well as indicators of one or more critical circuits. Thecircuit information may also include the work orders 230, exclusions250, or various configuration information related to the circuits 120 ofthe communications network. The database may be the link data warehouse180 or other storage mechanism for collecting and aggregatinginformation related to the communication circuits 120.

At operation 315, a set of diversity rules, such as the diversity rules240, may be received. The diversity rules 240 can indicate the desireddiversity status of the circuits 120 within the communications network.For example, network resources that may, or may not, be shared betweenprimary and secondary circuits within the network may be specified.

At operation 320, circuit information may be retrieved from thedatabase. The circuit information collected at operation 310 may beretrieved for diversity analysis. At operation 325, circuit informationmay be analyzed for violation of the diversity rules 240.

At operation 330, information regarding the work orders 230 may bereceived by the diversity analysis module 210. The work orders 230 maybe analyzed in operation 335 for violation of the diversity rules 240.Testing pending work orders 230 against the diversity rules 240 canprovide advance warning against carrying out a work order when doing somay compromise the diversity of circuits 120 within the communicationsnetwork.

At operation 340, a diversity report, such as the diversity report 260,may be generated. The diversity report 260 can provide a list ofdiversity rule violations as well as diversity statistics, metrics,histories, and visualizations.

At operation 345, a list of exclusions, such as exclusions 250, may bereceived by the diversity analysis module 210. At operation 350, matchesfrom the list of exclusions 250 within the diversity report 260 may beindicated within the diversity report 260 as exclusions. Such indicationcan imply that the noted circuit diversity faults are known to be falsepositive identifications.

At operation 355, diversity statistics may be generated. The generatedstatistics may be provided in association with the diversity report 260.The diversity report 260 may also include visualizations of informationsuch as the generated diversity statistics. The visualizations mayinclude plots, charts, tables, pie charts, or other graphical datavisualization mechanisms. At operation 360, historical diversityinformation may be provided. The historical diversity information may beprovided in association with the diversity report 260 and may also beincorporated into the visualizations.

At operation 365, results from the diversity report 260 may be appliedto the communications network to improve diversity. Entries in thediversity report 260 indicating one or more failed diversity rules for agiven circuit 120 or primary/secondary pair may be identified forcorrection. According to various embodiments, the identified circuitsfailing one or more diversity criteria may be manually or automaticallyreconfigured to increase adherence to the diversity rules 240.

Application of the method 300 to a communication network may be repeatedor applied periodically. For example, the method 300 may be appliedevery minute, every hour, daily, once a week, or so forth to monitorviolations of the diversity rules 240, generate the diversity reports260, or attempt to reconfigure network resources to improve diversity.

FIG. 4 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief,general description of a suitable computing environment in whichembodiments may be implemented. While embodiments will be described inthe general context of program modules that execute in conjunction withan application program that runs on an operating system on a computersystem, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments mayalso be implemented in combination with other program modules.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that embodiments may be practiced with othercomputer system configurations, including hand-held devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Theembodiments may also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system 500 configuredto implement diversity monitoring for communication network circuits, inaccordance with embodiments presented herein. Examples of the computersystem 500 may support the diversity analysis module 210 within thediversity analysis subsystem 200. The computer system 500 includes aprocessing unit 502, a memory 504, one or more user interface devices506, one or more input/output (I/O) devices 508, and one or more networkdevices 510, each of which is operatively connected to a system bus 512.The bus 512 enables bi-directional communication between the processingunit 502, the memory 504, the user interface devices 506, the I/Odevices 508, and the network devices 510.

The processing unit 502 may be a standard central processor thatperforms arithmetic and logical operations, a more specific purposeprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a programmable gate array, or othertype of processor known to those skilled in the art and suitable forcontrolling the operation of the server computer. Processing units arewell-known in the art, and therefore not described in further detailherein.

The memory 504 communicates with the processing unit 502 via the systembus 512. In one embodiment, the memory 504 is operatively connected to amemory controller (not shown) that enables communication with theprocessing unit 502 via the system bus 512. The memory 504 includes anoperating system 516 and one or more program modules 518, according toexemplary embodiments. Examples of operating systems, such as theoperating system 516, include, but are not limited to, WINDOWS, WINDOWSCE, and WINDOWS MOBILE from MICROSOFT CORPORATION, LINUX, SYMBIAN fromSYMBIAN LIMITED, BREW from QUALCOMM CORPORATION, MAC OS from APPLECORPORATION, and FREEBSD operating system. Examples of the programmodules 518 can include the diversity analysis module 210 or any otherprogram for implementing, in part or in full, the method 300. In someembodiments, the program modules 518 are embodied in computer-readablemedia containing instructions that, when executed by the processing unit502, performs the method 300 for monitoring diversity in communicationnetwork circuits, as described in greater detail above with respect toFIG. 3. According to embodiments, the program modules 518 may beembodied in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.

By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media maycomprise computer storage media and communication media. Computerstorage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but isnot limited to, RAM, ROM, Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM),Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory or othersolid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD), orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which canbe used to store the desired information and which can be accessed bythe computer system 500.

The user interface devices 506 may include one or more devices withwhich a user accesses the computer system 500. The user interfacedevices 506 may include, but are not limited to, computers, servers,personal digital assistants, cellular phones, or any suitable computingdevices. The I/O devices 508 enable a user to interface with the programmodules 518. In one embodiment, the I/O devices 508 are operativelyconnected to an I/O controller (not shown) that enables communicationwith the processing unit 502 via the system bus 512. The I/O devices 508may include one or more input devices, such as, but not limited to, akeyboard, a mouse, or an electronic stylus. Further, the I/O devices 508may include one or more output devices, such as, but not limited to, adisplay screen or a printer.

The network devices 510 enable the computer system 500 to communicatewith other networks or remote systems via a network 514. Examples of thenetwork devices 510 may include, but are not limited to, a modem, aradio frequency (RF) or infrared (IR) transceiver, a telephonicinterface, a bridge, a router, or a network card. The network 514 mayinclude a wireless network such as, but not limited to, a Wireless LocalArea Network (WLAN) such as a WI-FI network, a Wireless Wide AreaNetwork (WWAN), a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) such asBLUETOOTH, a Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) such a WiMAXnetwork, or a cellular network. Alternatively, the network 514 may be awired network such as, but not limited to, a Wide Area Network (WAN)such as the Internet, a Local Area Network (LAN) such as the Ethernet, awired Personal Area Network (PAN), or a wired Metropolitan Area Network(MAN).

Although the subject matter presented herein has been described inconjunction with one or more particular embodiments and implementations,it is to be understood that the embodiments defined in the appendedclaims are not necessarily limited to the specific structure,configuration, or functionality described herein. Rather, the specificstructure, configuration, and functionality are disclosed as exampleforms of implementing the claims.

The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustrationonly and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications andchanges may be made to the subject matter described herein withoutfollowing the example embodiments and applications illustrated anddescribed, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of theembodiments, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for monitoring a communications network,the method comprising: gathering, by a computer, information regardingcircuits within the communications network; receiving, by the computer,diversity rules for the circuits, the diversity rules indicating desireddiversity statuses of the circuits within the communications network;analyzing, by the computer, the information regarding the circuits toidentify violations of the diversity rules; receiving, by the computer,a work order comprising a list of proposed modifications to thecommunications network; analyzing, by the computer, the work order toidentify further violations of the diversity rules that would occur ifthe list of proposed modifications to the communications network wereimplemented; generating, by the computer, a diversity report comprisingthe violations of the diversity rules, the diversity report furthercomprising an indication of the further violations of the diversityrules that would occur if the list of proposed modifications to thecommunications network were implemented; receiving, by the computer, anexclusion list specifying known violations that are to be marked withinthe diversity report as exclusions to be ignored, wherein the exclusionlist comprises expiration dates and times for each of the exclusions inorder to prevent the exclusions from being permanently ignored, andwherein one of the exclusions comprises an improperly identifieddiversity fault that only shows as a fault because of a measuringmechanism; matching a known violation from the exclusion list to aviolation of the diversity rules from the diversity report, wherein theviolation of the diversity rules from the diversity report matching theknown violation comprises a false positive identification that can beignored for purposes of applying results from the diversity report tothe communications network to improve diversity of the communicationsnetwork; marking, by the computer in the diversity report, the violationof the diversity rules that matches the known violation from theexclusion list as an exclusion; and causing, by the computer, theresults from the diversity report to be applied to the communicationsnetwork to improve the diversity of the communications network.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the diversity report comprises diversitystatistics.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the diversity reportcomprises historical diversity information.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the circuits comprise communication links between air trafficcontrol facilities.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the diversityrules apply to pairs of primary and secondary circuits.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the diversity report comprises visualizationsassociated with diversity information.
 7. A system for monitoringcommunication circuits, the system comprising: a processor; and a memorythat stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, causethe processor to perform operations comprising gathering informationregarding the communication circuits, receiving diversity rules for thecommunication circuits, the diversity rules indicating desired diversitystatuses of the circuits within the communications network, analyzingthe information regarding the communication circuits to identifyviolations of the diversity rules, receiving a work order comprising alist of proposed modifications to the communications network, analyzingthe work order to identify further violations of the diversity rulesthat would occur if the list of proposed modifications to thecommunications network were implemented, generating a diversity reportcomprising the violations of the diversity rules, the diversity reportfurther comprising an indication of the further violations of thediversity rules that would occur if the list of proposed modificationsto the communications network were implemented, receiving an exclusionlist specifying known violations that are to be marked within thediversity report as exclusions to be ignored, wherein the exclusion listcomprises expiration dates and times for each of the exclusions in orderto prevent the exclusions from being permanently ignored, and whereinone of the exclusions comprises an improperly identified diversity faultthat only shows as a fault because of a measuring mechanism, matching aknown violation from the exclusion list to a violation of the diversityrules from the diversity report, wherein the violation of the diversityrules from the diversity report matching the known violation comprises afalse positive identification that can be ignored for purposes ofapplying results from the diversity report to the communications networkto improve diversity of the communications network, marking, in thediversity report, the violation of the diversity rules that matches theknown violation from the exclusion list as an exclusion, and causing theresults from the diversity report to be applied to the communicationsnetwork to improve the diversity of the communications network.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the diversity report comprises diversitystatistics.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein the diversity reportcomprises historical diversity information.
 10. The system of claim 7,wherein the communication circuits comprise communication links betweenair traffic control facilities.
 11. The system of claim 7, wherein thediversity rules apply to pairs of primary and secondary circuits. 12.The system of claim 7, wherein the diversity report comprisesvisualizations associated with diversity information.
 13. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the visualizations comprise one of plots, charts,tables, pie charts, and other graphical data visualization mechanisms.14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions storedthereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor toperform operations comprising: gathering information regarding circuitswithin a communications network; receiving diversity rules for thecircuits, the diversity rules indicating desired diversity statuses ofthe circuits within the communications network; analyzing theinformation regarding the circuits to identify violations of thediversity rules; receiving a work order comprising a list of proposedmodifications to the communications network; analyzing the work order toidentify further violations of the diversity rules that would occur ifthe list of proposed modifications to the communications network wereimplemented; generating a diversity report comprising the violations ofthe diversity rules, the diversity report further comprising anindication of the further violations of the diversity rules that wouldoccur if the list of proposed modifications to the communicationsnetwork were implemented; receiving an exclusion list specifying knownviolations that are to be marked within the diversity report asexclusions to be ignored, wherein the exclusion list comprisesexpiration dates and times for each of the exclusions in order toprevent the exclusions from being permanently ignored, and wherein oneof the exclusions comprises an improperly identified diversity faultthat only shows as a fault because of a measuring mechanism; matching aknown violation from the exclusion list to a violation of the diversityrules from the diversity report, wherein the violation of the diversityrules from the diversity report matching the known violation comprises afalse positive identification that can be ignored for purposes ofapplying results from the diversity report to the communications networkto improve diversity of the communications network marking, in thediversity report, the violation of the diversity rules that matches theknown violation from the exclusion list as an exclusion; and causing theresults from the diversity report to be applied to the communicationsnetwork to improve the diversity of the communications network.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein thediversity report comprises diversity statistics.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the diversity reportcomprises visualizations associated with diversity information.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein thevisualizations comprise one of plots, charts, tables, pie charts, andother graphical data visualization mechanisms.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the circuits comprisecommunication links between air traffic control facilities.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein thediversity rules apply to pairs of primary and secondary circuits. 20.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein thediversity report comprises historical diversity information.